With his opening and closing statements, Law sent the message that the requirement to take the oath was only a political tool and his rising intonation in pronouncing the word “country” expressed doubt or disrespect towards China as a legitimate sovereign of Hong Kong. It found that Leung’s protest actions lacked the required dignity and solemnity required, whilst Lau failed to commit to the oath because of her slow manner of delivery. Yiu’s use of extra words were included in an effort to add “part and parcel” to the oath, the court ruled.

The opposition camp is now left with 24 remaining seats in the legislature.

‘Oathgate’

The government sought to oust Yiu, Lau, Leung and Lau through a judicial review filed last December and heard in March.

Lawmakers at the legislature just before the announcement. Photo: HKFP/Kris Cheng.

During the oath-taking ceremony on October 12, Lau read her oath in slow motion over a period of almost ten minutes. The legislature’s clerk accepted her oath then, but the president later rejected it. Lau retook her oath in November.

Yiu added the phrase “for democracy and for Hong Kong’s sustainable development” in his first oath-taking attempt, which was rejected by the clerk. He added the phrase after the traditional oath during his second attempt, which was also not accepted. He retook his pledge the following week.

Law allegedly changed the tone as he read out “People’s Republic of China” to make it sound like a question, whereas Leung brought props to the stage and shouted slogans before and after reading his oath. Both pledges were accepted at the time.

Pro-Beijing lawmaker Wong Ting-kwong omitted “Hong Kong” from his oath and was allowed by the legislature’s president to retake it the following week. He was not challenged by the government.

Three of the disqualified lawmakers won in the geographical seat election. Nathan Law won 50,818 votes, Lau Siu-lai won 38,183, Leung Kwok-hung won 35,595 votes. The other disqualified lawmaker Edward Yiu won in the functional constituency’s architectural sector, where voters are sector professionals. He won 2,491 votes.

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